If you’d like to join the fun, please click here for details. If you have any questions about the Phoneography Challenge, please contact me.

One of my favorite photographic themes is bridges. I scout them here and there and anywhere. The serendipitous is the most joyful. Even the simplest of designs can entice my visual sensibilities.

On a recent overcast day I was driving in the back country, headed toward Downingtown, Pennsylvania. As I maneuvered a sharp turn, a bridge filled my sight line. The light rain turned to mist, and I was forced to park and savor the view.

The scene was framed by vintage nostalgia–filled with the monochrome of pre-technicolor film. While the visual acuity was reduced, my senses were spiked by the combination of elements before me. It had lush contrast and gradation.

Instantly, I was reminded of a recent lecture about the British photographer Bill Brandt. Sarah Hermanson Meister, Curator in the Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York, delivered a punchy talk at the annual art history lecture series at the University of Delaware. Much of the content came from the exhibition, which she curated for the museum titled “Bill Brandt: Shadow and Light,” and was held March 6–August 12, 2013 (view full description of the show here). On a Website about Brandt you can learn more about him as an artist. Click here.

Bill Brandt Shadow and Light, by Sarah H. Meister, 2013

“Ear in Landscape,” 1957, by Bill Brandt

Meister engaged the audience with Brandt’s photographs that easily shored her analysis of his startling ability to see the world. He was one of England’s greatest twentieth-century photographers, and previously underrated to be sure. He focused on social documentary, landscapes, nudes, and portraiture, and his work shows an affinity for modernism, which he helped introduce.

“Shadow and Light” is an apt title for this retrospective that displayed over 200 photographs and snapshots. Each showed his command of monochrome–the dark and the light, the subtle and blatant. But his attention to the photographic process and composition were only part of his genius.

Brandt would have loved phoneography. His editing was relentless, and three-quarters of his prints were retouched either in or outside the darkroom. He would have adored the range of apps available to manipulate stilled images. He was known for cropping his subjects up close and then even closer.

Brandt is lesser known than his colleagues, which surprises me. I have become fascinated by his vision–his need to comprehend the visual arena. He illuminated and painted the world through an ongoing process of seeing–a seeing that the retrospective help to expose.

Tip of the Week: Black-and-white photography is very much about shadow and light. Time and innovative technology have not altered that fact. For those of us who did not see Brandt’s work at MOMA, Meister’s book, Bill Brandt: Shadow and Light, is the next best way to dive into his photography. To purchase it, you can browse through various options on Amazon by clicking here. A review of the book can be found here. Please take the opportunity to be astounded by his artistic eye.

I really like the first one. I’m struck by the layers in the image. The river at the bottom, then the vines, then the field and the bridge and finally the woods. I like how the vines on the right mirror the movement of the bridge … both lead the eye to the mist like light and the entrance to the woods. Was it a damp day? There is a feeling of moisture in the capture. Beautiful job on both. Meghan
PS… I’m so happy I found this challenge. Here is a link to my first entry.http://firebonnet.com/2013/10/22/phoneography-challenge-2013-paws-and-effect/

Sally,
Thank you for setting up the perfect challenge for me, for my first stab at challenges. It is out of my comfort zone but easily doable and a heap of rewards.

I prefer the second photo. Bridges evoke many different feelings for me depending on the view, but a woodland path is one of my favorites. Its adventure and journey. This one reminds me of a new journey, exciting, unknown.

I thought it looked like it was taken in the night-time until I read that it was taken in the rain. I like #1, but #2 draws you in promising dramatic possibilities of what lurks in the darkness beneath the bridge 🙂

Both are great pictures Sally, I like the top one because it gives a sweeping sense of the environment both manmade and natural–with nature the dominant force. It sort of reminds me of how we struggle to tame nature but in the end, nature wins.

Hi Sally,
I strongly prefer the first picture. I can follow the lines in the second, but there’s something about the metal surface of the bottom bridge that disturbs me, it doesn’t fit in the picture in my opinion.
The first one however, the old bridge looks even broken, ending in infinity in an almost rainforest. A forgotten place. Taken over by nature. I love it.

This image proves that one must stop and contemplate what is seen. I was able to get a vantage one, and the quiet of the mist and the quiet on the bridge were inspiring. Thank you for your comment and visit.

Sally, as always it’s difficult to decide which photo I like better, although this week I tend towards the second. The first draws my eye towards the forest on the other side of the bridge, while the second has a much closer, more immediate focus. Is that the old bridge on the right of the second photo or just a walking bridge?

I also want to let you know how much I appreciate you putting the challenge out early in the morning. I’m one of the those bloggers who usually sets my posts to go live at 2 am, so waiting until mid-day, as happens with some challenges, is agony for me. 🙂

Yes, it’s the same bridge, just from a different angle. The smaller pathway caught my attention–as a companion to the older bridge and led me closer to the creek. Thanks so much for your comment. See you soon.